DID: Rapid development and changing weather pattern causing floods
BY AUDREY EDWARDSPETALING JAYA: Rapid development and the changing weather pattern are among factors causing frequent floods in the country, according to the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID).
DID Director-General Datuk Keizrul Abdullah said the kinds of development which contributed to the situation included new housing areas, commercial centres and roads.
He said the quantity of water flowing into rivers and drains these days was two or three times more than a few years ago, and these outlets were not able to handle the volume anymore.
“All these types of development have an effect. It is happening everywhere in Malaysia and not only confined to the southern part of the country.
“It changes the hydrology. You cannot stop development but you can stem the effects with proper measures,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Keizrul was commenting on the flash floods that hit southern states of the peninsula in recent days, wreaking havoc in some parts and disrupting rail services.
In terms of development, he said it changed the “character” of the land where there was now infrastructure such as houses, roads and drainage systems in place of trees.
“If it was a forest, the rainwater would be partly trapped by the leaves and seep into the ground. But now with houses, roads and drains, rainfall is not trapped but flows out very quickly into rivers and drains.
“And these rivers and drains cannot cope with the extra flow of water. This is made worse by siltation in the rivers caused by land clearing and drains being chocked with indiscriminate rubbish dumping,” he added.
On the changing weather pattern, Keizrul said there had been fairly heavy rainfall especially since last month not only in Malaysia but other also countries such as Japan.
He also said the type of rainfall differed from year to year, citing an example of last year where there was heavy rainfall in the northern region of the country.
“It is not happening there (northern region) this year but in the south.
On its part, he said DID was constantly improving the river system such as widening, deepening and building bunds to prevent water from overflowing.
He said that the department maintained a website http://infobanjir.moa.my where records of floods and the extent of the incidents were available.
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